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thebigemmt505's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
What Moves The Dead is unique retelling of The Fall of The House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe written by T. Kingfisher. It follows Alex Easton’s journey to the House of Usher, following the reception of a letter from the sister of one of ka’s close army friends.
Now, admittedly, I haven’t read the original- I just pick up books when I find them interesting, I suppose. Even without the context of Poe’s story, I really enjoyed this one! The writing is fun and easy to read, but not lacking in great description and very solid dialogue. I find fungi fascinating, so having it be a driver of the narrative was entertaining and interesting. The depiction of the hares was downright disturbing and worked well. The characters are well-characterized, as much as is needed for the story, anyways. Alex Easton is a delightful character to read. Ka’s quick humor and fascination with people’s passions makes the character super likable, even without the narrative being strictly character driven. It’s a really unique portrayal of a queer character as well, and very refreshing in the wake of so many forced, hetero-ified, cliché portrayals found in a myriad of other novels being released today. (I don’t say this in the grifter way- I’m one of the LGBTQs myself, and I do love a lot of queer media, but dear lord do some need to get better at writing! The main draw of a book doesn’t have to be watered down queer-ness, people.)
I don’t have many critiques as far as the writing goes. My rating quality wise is closer to a 4/5 or even 4.25/5, but I suppose the story didn’t pack the full punch I wanted it too. I don’t think that’s what the story was necessarily going for though, so I wouldn’t call that a flaw. It comes down to preference more than anything else. I also feel as though Madeline could’ve had a bigger presence in the story before the end, and that might’ve made the climax more effective. Anyways, it was a really nice read!
Overall, What Moves The Dead is a fun little re-telling of a classic that anyone who is into horror should add to their list.
Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Terminal illness
Minor: Suicide and War
mothmania's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Body horror, Animal death, Grief, Medical content, and Gore
aparker89's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Death, Terminal illness, Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Grief, Alcoholism, Blood, Mental illness, and Misogyny
Moderate: War, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Dementia, Self harm, Deadnaming, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Biphobia, and Animal cruelty
hedsek's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Alcohol, Animal death, Body horror, and Medical content
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Alcoholism, Confinement, Sexism, Cursing, Misogyny, Suicide, and War
autonomous_lass's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Death, Gore, Terminal illness, Cursing, Animal death, and Blood
Moderate: Animal cruelty
Minor: Suicide
rmgmorrow's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Terminal illness, Grief, Animal death, Dementia, Gore, Body horror, and Death
Moderate: War
skranz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Animal death and Terminal illness
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Chronic illness, Body horror, and Death
Minor: Alcohol
whimsylee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Body horror, Chronic illness, Gore, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, War, Suicide, Alcohol, Vomit, Terminal illness, Animal death, Suicide attempt, Dementia, and Eating disorder
micksland's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I can confidently list “What Moves the Dead” as an example of an adaptation which exceeds the limitations of its source material. “What Moves the Dead” provides an updated look at Poe’s classic story “The Fall of the House of Usher” (which is highly overrated and not at all scary, in my opinion).
Kingfisher’s take replaces Poe’s unnamed narrator with soldier Alex Easton, adds in a smattering of lovable side characters, and delves into the characters of Madeline and Roderick Usher as well.
The first half of this short novel was very slow, but the second half was full of very real terror. Kingfisher did an excellent job at answering some of Poe’s unanswered questions, while still leaving a layer of mystery and occult uneasiness that pervades the story.
Graphic: Terminal illness, Animal death, Murder, and Body horror
Moderate: Suicide
bookyanna's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Suicide, Dysphoria, and Murder
Minor: Mental illness and Misogyny